Zheng Pang, Zheng Zha and his son were really scared this time and actually pulled the Taiyuan garrison back to Shenglong Mansion.
Taiyuan City of Annan Kingdom is located fifty miles due north of its capital. Like Lang Son, it is the northern barrier of Annan Kingdom.
The Lang Son garrison was defending Guangxi.
The Taiyuan garrison was defending Gaoping.
In the valley of Gaoping, there is a Mo family regime... And the Zheng family and the Ruan family started by overthrowing the Mo family. The Mo family has survived and has not been eliminated to this day.
Historically, the Mo family first supported the Southern Ming Dynasty, then took refuge with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and then relied on Wu Sangui, and finally led to their own destruction.
Only five hundred soldiers were left to defend the city in Taiyuan, and the remaining more than a thousand garrison troops were all recalled to Shenglong Mansion by Zheng Pang. As for whether the Mo clan took the opportunity to invade, Zheng Pang could no longer control that much. He had lost tens of thousands of troops in his previous expedition.
There is a serious lack of troops on hand.
It was precisely because of the civil war in Annam that the army in the hinterland was emptied out, and the Datong army was in Thanh Hoa, and the Nghe An army was in turmoil.
After occupying Ngee Ann City, Yuan Shizhong sent hundreds of troops each to capture the nearby Anren (Nan'an) and Zhongyi (Yanzhou). In these cities, there were no regular troops from Annan, so local officials could be said to have surrendered to the wind.
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After seizing the city, the Datong army did not leave anyone to defend it, directly hired local farmers, emptied the treasury and marched north.
The battle on Li Dingguo's side went more smoothly. Datong Navy warships sailed outside Qinghua City and a burst of shelling solved the problem. The chief defender here turned out to be Zheng, a nephew of Zheng Pang. When he saw the Datong army, he quickly surrendered.
Yuan Shizhong led his troops on a naval warship and quickly joined forces with Li Dingguo to occupy the city of Nam Dinh City without any effort. It is located on the bank of the Red River and is only 180 miles away from Thang Long Palace.
Until this time, Zheng Pang finally completed gathering his troops.
With the few remnant soldiers left before, plus various Qinwang troops, Zheng unexpectedly raised more than 40,000 troops. However, more than 70% of them were rural warriors, similar to the Ming Dynasty regiments Zhao Han encountered in Jiangxi.
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Zheng led his troops to station in Xing'an City, which was only 50 miles away from Li Dingguo.
If you want to attack Thang Long from Nam Dinh, the fastest and most convenient route is to go up the Red River. Zheng's army is stuck on the road it must pass.
"Father, we must fight quickly, otherwise we will not have enough military rations." Zheng Zha reminded.
Zheng said: "If the enemy troops don't attack, if we guard Nanding City by the river, how can we win a quick battle?"
Zheng Zha said: "But the military rations are really not enough."
Zheng Pang ordered: "Take people to the countryside to collect grain. The more grain you collect, the better!"
Previously, there were more than 70,000 kilograms of rice grains in the treasury, and King Qin's troops from all walks of life brought more than 10,000 kilograms. However, more than 40,000 soldiers, divided equally, only had more than 200 kilograms of grain per person. They gathered in Thanglong Palace.
It took more than half a month.
There is no oil and water, lack of protein, and no snacks and fruits. Under such circumstances, an adult man,
I can eat several kilograms of rice every day if I open it.
While Zheng Pang sent his son to the countryside to collect grain, he also ordered the entire army to reduce their meals: the regular army could only eat one catty of grain per day, and the rural soldiers could only eat ten taels of grain per day.
Of course, nobles, generals, and gentry are not bound by this.
Take Li Shenzong and Li Zhenzong as an example. Although they are both puppet kings, their treatment must be guaranteed.
Zheng was afraid that the royalists would cause chaos, so he brought the puppet king and his son, and left the palace affairs to his daughter Zheng Yuzhu.
Zheng Pang's daughter, Zheng Yuzhu, was the wife of the Supreme Emperor Li Shenzong and the not-so-serious Queen Supreme.
It's not serious because Zheng Yuzhu was married and gave birth to four children.
At that time, the real queen died of illness. Zheng Pang wanted to control the king through marriage, but he had no extra daughter.
So, he imprisoned his son-in-law and asked his daughter to marry the king with her four children.
In the army, the king's tent.
Li Shenzong and Li Zhenzong, father and son, ate and drank in silence, with the palace maid standing beside them to monitor them.
After drinking a pot of wine, Li Shenzong took the opportunity to become drunk and went crazy. He beat the palace maid after taking his job.
The palace maid was beaten so hard that she fled in panic. Li Shenzong quickly said: "Look for an opportunity to surrender to the Han and use the opportunity to restore the country!"
"But...Father, this matter may not be easy." Li Zhenzong was even more timid.
It was because Li Shenzong was disobedient and secretly caused trouble when Zheng Pang was defeated that he was deposed and allowed his son to succeed him. This guy always wanted to rule personally and would never miss any opportunity.
However, Li Zhenzong was frightened and did not have the bloodiness of young people at all.
Li Shenzong roared in a low voice: "I have to do it even if it's not easy. Do you want to be a puppet for the rest of your life?"
If it were something else, Li Shenzong would still be able to bear it. Zheng asked him to marry a remarried woman with four children. This kind of insult was simply a slap in the face in front of the officials and people of the whole country.
The father and son said a few more words, and the palace maid, who was beaten and ran away, came back with a few officers.
When Li Shenzong heard the footsteps, he immediately put his arms around his son and pretended to be drunk, holding up a wine bottle: "Come... drink... today there is wine... today... drunk
Sleep.
All his sons died. Although the imperial doctor said they died of illness, he suspected that Zheng Pang poisoned him because he was overthinking it. If he died without any children, Zheng Pang would have to bring his father back to restore him.
The deaths of several sons one after another have frightened Li Zhenzong to death, and now everyone thinks they want to harm him.
Li Zhenzong hoped that the Han soldiers would come over quickly and kill everyone in the Zheng family. As for who would be the king in the future, Li Zhenzong didn't care. It was best for the Han soldiers to annex Annan and then make him the Duke of Anle, so that he could live in peace for the rest of his life.
Xing'an, countryside.
Zheng Zha sent out thousands of troops and went around to collect grain.
The so-called grain requisition means that county commune (similar to a town or village) officials and their petty officials force the people to hand over grain. If a village or town fails to pay enough grain, the army will be dispatched immediately, burning, killing, looting, etc.
At the same time, those troops went straight to the houses of the big landowners, because the local officials could not attack at the big landowners' houses.
"Master, my family is really out of food. This is our life-saving food!" A farmer hugged the soldier's thigh, while his wife, son and daughter cried bitterly in the house.
The soldier kicked the farmer away: "If you don't have food, go to the landlord's house to borrow it!"
After the farmer fell down, he climbed over and kowtowed: "Where can I borrow money? Last year's rent has not been paid in full."
The soldier smiled and said: "You also have a daughter. If you sell it, you will get food."
After this group of soldiers robbed one house, they immediately went to the next one.
As for the landowners, they can't escape either. It's okay if they obey and pay the grain, but if they don't obey, they break in and their wives and daughters may be humiliated by the soldiers.
Such behavior is perfectly normal.
At that time, the Annan Mo Dynasty continued to expropriate grain from landlords and farmers due to years of war, which eventually led to continuous uprisings across the country. The Zheng family and the Ruan family took the opportunity to overthrow the Mo family's rule with the support of the gentry, leading a peasant uprising army.
It is twenty miles west of Xing'an and twenty-five miles north of Nanding.
Gan family.
The Gan family belongs to a local prominent family. Although it is very close to the capital, it has never produced many high-ranking officials. Because the Annan court was controlled by Thanh and Nghe An nobles, they joined forces to squeeze out the gentry from other places.
"Father, we were forced to requisition 800 shi of millet today. There is not much food left at home," Gan Shoudao said angrily.
"If the war continues, the officers and soldiers will definitely come again, and everyone in the Gan family will starve to death by then!"
Gan Yu sighed: "What else can I do?"
Gan Shoudao continued: "Those Thanh Hoa aristocrats are becoming more and more arrogant. Let's just say that in Hung Yen City, there are many Thanh Hoa and Nghe An people as officials. They exploit the people as soon as they arrive. Even the landlords are forced to break up.
The family is selling their land. Sooner or later, this Xing'an Prefecture will be completely occupied by outsiders!"
"What exactly do you want to say?" Gan Yu asked.
Gan Shoudao said: "It's better to surrender to the Han army and get back everything you lost! The Zheng family just suffered a huge defeat and tens of thousands of troops were lost. Now Thanh Hua and Nghe An have been lost again. They don't even have enough food to support their troops. Where can they fight?
Can you defeat the Han soldiers?"
Gan Yu worriedly said: "What if the Han soldiers lose? Zheng's family will be ruined if they settle accounts after the fall!"
Gan Shoudao said: "If this continues, sooner or later we will be ruined!"
The Zheng regime had a standing military strength of 56,500.
Among them, 5,000 people guarded the king, 6,000 people guarded Lord Zheng, 30,000 people were distributed in various places, more than 10,000 people were stationed in Nghe An and major Buchan provinces, and the remaining more than 4,000 people were stationed in Thanh Hoa.
This shows how important Nghe An and Thanh Hoa are. There are usually more troops stationed there than frontier defenders.
Under normal circumstances, it was necessary to attack by force, but the Datong army took advantage of the loophole. Zheng took the soldiers and horses of both places out to fight, and they were completely defeated and almost lost.
And the Zheng family's territory has a total population of only 3 million, and they have to support more than 50,000 standing troops. You can imagine how heavy the taxation will be.
What's even more ridiculous is that he also has to support the royal family and Lord Zheng.
The annual income of the Annan royal family is one thousand villages (one thousand villages), accounting for one-eighth of the country's total. Zheng's Tang Muyi is also close to one thousand villages, and one-eighth of the country's total. There is also support from the clan, which accounts for about one-eighth of the country's total.
One twentieth.
One-third of the land tax in the country was used to support these people, and the rest could go into the national treasury to support soldiers and officials.
The people of Annan, who have two crops a year and three crops a year, cannot withstand such exploitation. Even the landlords have little leftover food.
By the way, all of Zheng’s 1,000-year-old family, Tangmuyi, are located in Thanh Hoa.
Zheng Pang's old mansion has been confiscated by Li Dingguo!
Gan Shoudao and his family slaves rushed to the other side of the river in Nanding City day and night. There was Yuan Shizhong's military camp by the river, and Li Dingguo led his troops to garrison in the city.
Gan Shoudao was caught as a spy. After crying, he was taken to see Li Dingguo.
"General, help me!" Gan Shoudao knelt down.
Li Dingguo asked: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Gan Shoudao replied: "The grassroots are the people of Xing'an Prefecture. The Zheng family is cruel and unethical. They plunder the people's rations to use as military supplies. If they resist at the slightest moment, they will destroy their families and wipe out their families. Please send troops quickly to save thousands of people from the fire."
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Of course Li Dingguo sent spies out, and he also knew that Zheng was sending troops to plunder the people.
However, just by looking at Gan Shoudao's clothes, you can tell that he is a landlord. Being able to force the landlord to surrender to the enemy shows that the Zheng family has lost the support of the people and the time is ripe for a decisive battle.
Li Dingguo asked Gan Shoudao to stay as a guide, and immediately ordered: "Mount the troops tomorrow and distribute food to the people along the way!"
The Datong army is not short of food. Zheng Pang's hometown of Qinghua collects one-eighth of the country's land tax every year. Except for those transported to Thang Long Prefecture and those engaged in grain business, the rest of the grain is piled in warehouses.
What’s even more funny is that most of the four thousand Annan officers and soldiers stationed in Qinghua are usually outside the city guarding Zheng Pang’s granary.
